Jason McCourty putting best foot forward for Patriots

Sunday

FOXBORO — Jason and Devin McCourty are identical twins who are nearly indistinguishable when it comes to their looks and, more so, impossible to tell apart when it comes to their voices.

So much so, their wives can’t tell the difference between their husbands and brothers-in-law when talking with them on the phone. They’re not alone.

Jason recounted Sunday how owner Robert Kraft was duped by the twins the day he called the McCourty household to tell Devin he’d been drafted 27th overall by the Patriots in 2010. With Devin in the bathroom, Jason took the call and made like his brother.

“I spent the first part of the conversation talking to Mr. Kraft and being excited about being drafted by the New England Patriots,” said McCourty, who played for the Tennessee Titans at the time.

“Dev spent the second half talking to Coach (Bill) Belichick. So that’s probably the best prank we’ve done, although it wasn’t on purpose.”

While McCourty is unsure if Kraft knows what transpired during that draft-day call, he knows he likes the way things are going in training camp as the 10th-year pro transitions to New England after being acquired in an offseason trade with the Cleveland Browns.

“I feel good,” said the 5-foot-11, 195-pound McCourty, who is an inch taller and the same weight as his brother. “Just being out here, being able to be on this team and getting to know my teammates. I’m getting more comfortable in the system and just playing football.

“I’ll be 31 tomorrow and I didn’t think I’d be playing football at 31, so it’s a blessing every day just to be able to come out here and compete.”

McCourty, like his brother, played at Rutgers, but entered the NFL Draft a year earlier after playing as a true freshman rather than being redshirted like Devin. He was selected by Tennessee in the sixth round (203rd overall) and went on to play eight seasons for the Titans — six as a starter — before signing with Cleveland last year.

Now McCourty is playing for his second team in as many seasons, which means the learning process has begun again. Interestingly enough, the biggest challenge has more to do with getting to know personalities rather than the playbook.

“Trying to get used to the system and then I think, more importantly — same as last year and this year — it’s getting used to playing with new teammates,” McCourty said. “That’s the biggest adjustment for me. Being in the league for a while you pick up systems, it’s just changing the terminology.

“But getting accustomed to playing with different guys, getting accustomed to criticizing one another, just building that team chemistry (is a critical process).”

McCourty has mainly been getting snaps at cornerback with the second-string defense during the first 12 practices of camp behind expected starters Stephon Gilmore and Eric Rowe. He’s had a quiet camp for the most part, although he did break up a pass intended for receiver Cordarrelle Patterson on Sunday.

The Patriots have kept five corners in six of the past eight seasons after final cuts were made.

Gilmore, Rowe and rookie Duke Dawson are roster locks. So if form holds, that leaves two spots for the likes of McCourty, veteran Jonathan Jones, first-year pro Ryan Lewis, and rookies Deion Crossen and J.C. Jackson.

“You know what, I’m trying not to put any thought process into it,” McCourty said. “One thing I really believe is you can control what you can control. So for me, each and every day I get an opportunity no matter if I’m with the ones, twos, threes or fours.

“If your number is called and you get a rep, make the best of the rep. At the end of the day the powers that be make those decisions. So put your best foot forward and wherever you stand at the end, that’s where you stand.”

McCourty’s biggest selling point is his experience. He’s appeared in 122 career games with 104 starts. Jones, who is coming back from ankle injury and didn’t begin practicing until Aug. 7, has appeared in 32 games while Lewis, Crossen and Jackson have yet to make their NFL debuts.

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